Scaling the Ravenroost

  • Secret doors, and atleast one secret area
  • One way mirror, hear Selena talking?
    • "Where is Blackley? He has abandoned us, right at the hour of our plan's fulfillment!"

Unless Tofanis is slain, Palecliff is covered in a perpetual foggy mist that attenuates the sun enough to allow vampires to move unhindered throughout the day.

As you approach the Ravenroost, the three seastacks that make up the fortress slowly fade out of the fog and rain. Ropebridges connect the towers, and several humanoid shapes can be seen flying in the air. Each ivy-covered tower has been built into the natural stone edifice, and in places it is hard to tell where the natural stone stops and the tower begins.

The tower closest to the mainland is topped with an open-air courtyard with crenellated battlements. The smallest tower has two large openings on its side, one at sealevel, the other just below its pointed roof. The last tower sits behind the other two, and is taller and wider than the others. Lavish stained-glass windows can be seen on its top two floors.

Bottom floor

The bottom floor holds the cellars and dungeons, hewn into the seastacks. These rooms are at least twenty feet below the first floor, almost at the bottom of the sea stacks.

The rooms here are rarely taller than 10 feet, and are cold and damp.

Boathouse
Larders
Winecellar
Dungeons
Treasury
C1
C2
C3

Boathouse

The boathouse is located in a natural cave in the seastack, which gives shelter from the ocean waves. Wooden docks have been added, allowing for easy loading and unloading. Several small boats line the walls, their oars neatly hung from the ceiling. Coils of rope smelling of tar, sailbags, and other nautical gear is strewn around the room.

  • Encounter
    • If knocked in the water, Action to get up again
    • Harbinger Zealot
      • "I can't believe we are on fucking fish duty. We should be training for our next mission with Lord Bodvar and the others..."
    • Harbinger Doomsayer
      • "Quiet! This is our assignment, and so we will perform it, without whining about it."
    • Harbinger Myrmidon
      • "Blackley could have left us one of his spawn. We'll have to carry these by hand."
  • Long, narrow staircase leads to the Storeroom.
  • Loot:
    • As much rope as they want
    • Investigation 20: Spyglass

Dungeons

Down several flights of stairs, deep in the sea stack, are the dungeons of the Ravenroost. Through a circular well in the floor, water is visible around twenty feet down. The low vaulted ceilings are dripping with moisture from the damp air. The antechamber holds a workshop with a small forge.

The stairs down to the dungeons are trapped.

  • Perception 16 to spot trip wire and not trigger grease trap
  • Spiked pillar by the bottom of the stair
  • If triggered, all creatures on the stairs must make a DC 16 Dexterity saving throw or 10 (3d6) piercing damage
  • To traverse the stairs once the grease has been triggered is also difficult

The well gives access to the ocean.

  • Investigation 20: There are Merrow footprints in the dust around the well
Janitor's Office

A small room with a desk, long disused. Several brooms and other cleaning instruments in a cupboard, as well as an apron hanging on the inner door.

  • Investigation 5: A dusty tome, where the last note is dated 1410 AUC: "Baron Lothar to go hunting tomorrow, requests his best hounds be brought to the drawbridge at first light. Majordomo Blackley will also go."
  • Investigation 20: A keychain with a large skeleton key in a false-bottomed drawer
    • These will open all interior doors of the keep
Prison

The dungeon holds Gaius Victes, an artificer who made the lumber shredders. He was working on improvements to the shredder when the logging operation was disrupted. Blackley forced him to redouble his efforts, which led to his current situation: stuck in a cage guarded by his own construct.

Lily and Broadtrunk were both briefly captives here.

  • Encounter:
    • Self-steering Lumber Shredder with 200 hp
      • It has treads instead of legs
    • It's Lumbering Charge can break through the wall to the antechamber
    • If it falls in the well, it cannot get up
  • Evidence of humans kept for feeding in the cells, but none currently there
Gaius Victes

(human, 43, LN): FTC engineer who made the shredders under duress.

  • "Blackley, is that you? I need some assistance here!"
  • "Aid me, and the FTC will reward you greatly!"
  • "Use my hammer over there! It should make shorter work of it!"
  • "I was lured here and imprisoned. Blackley made me an offer that was too good to refuse. Turns out he was a vampire, and he forced me to make the shredders for him, or he would have drained my blood. I had no choice but to comply!"
  • Scared by the twins, who threatened to kill him for being part of the FTC?
  • "When the Mk.2 Shredder came alive, I had to duck for cover into the cell, and have been stuck here for three days."
  • "Yes, there was a druid girl here, about ten days ago. Blackley came down with some fish-creatures and they left with her. That's all I know, I swear it!"
  • "I learned what I know from Diana Parsion. She is a true master mechanist! Last I heard, she was in Whitport, working for Basan Varanius."

Larders

The larders hold several barrels of salt pork and dried fish, as well as many sacks of grain, potatoes, and onions. This is enough food to feed a small army for a long winter.

If Baron Lothar Stormwood's name is spoken aloud here, his ghost appears through a wall. Lothar Stormwood was the last Baron of Palecliff, and was murdered by Alderman Blackley in 1410 AUC.

  • "My family's keep... In the hands of a MURDERER!"
  • "I trusted him like a brother, and all I got was a DAGGER TO THE HEART!"
  • "You! You are not the usual rabble who squats in my ANCESTRAL HOME!"
  • "You are talking to a lord, and will address me as befits MY STATION!"
  • "Blackley... dead? HAHA! That traitor got what was coming to him in the end!"
  • "See for yourself, through that door. Although I cannot for the life of me remember the code. It was something I could easily remember, I am sure of it! Nowadays I just drift on through..."
Baron Lothar Stormwood

(human, LN, 1374-1410 AUC): The last Baron of Palecliff. He haunts the halls of his ancestral home, hoping to avenge his murder. His closest living relative is through his aunt Tess, who married into House Blaise. She was the grandmother of Count Lucian.

C1
  • Door is locked, DC 20.
  • Seemingly empty room, very dusty,
  • Four sconces on the wall sit at odd angles.
  • Investigation 10: the sconces can rotate. Each has 10 detents labelled with a rune. From left to right, they are currently set to 2730.
  • If the correct code is entered (1374, Baron Lothar's birthyear), a secret passage opens.
    • The small secret room holds a long forgotten skeletal corpse, that of Baron Lothar.
    • The skeleton has a Sacrificial Dagger stuck in its ribcage.
    • There is also a chest, holding 932gp and 11 (2d10) gems.
C2
  • Various cheeses and sausages are aging in this room
  • A shelf full of Winterdale cheeses from Greystone, including a particularily smelly cheese called Ghast's Flesh.
C3

Ice room held below freezing by magic. Shelves of frozen food line the walls, adorned with hoarfrost and icicles. The door is frozen shut, and requires a DC 15 Athletics check to force open.

  • 2 (1d4) Sun Carrot
  • Ice cream of various flavors
  • Arcana 15: dismantle the coldbox and take its uncommon water essence
Winecellar

The room is filled to the ceiling with barrels and bottlecases. You seem to have wandered into the castle's winecellar. Several empty bottles lie strewn on the hard stone floor, and the smell of stale wine hits your noses.

  • Clurichaun getting drunk
    • Tiny man-like creature with shrivelled features who wears a dishevelled black suit and top hat. He is incredibly drunk.
    • "Whaddyawaaaant?!"
    • "Go away! I found it first!"
    • "I'm warning you! Hic! Back away, or face my fists of fury!"
  • Loot:

Middle floor

The middle floor holds much of the living spaces of the castle, including the banquet hall. Vaulted arches hold up the roofs, most of which are 20 feet tall.

Bridge Guardhouse
Storeroom
Banquet Hall
Altar of Remembrance
Blackley's Quarters
Kitchen
Library
Armory
Hallway

Storeroom

The room is stacked from floor to ceiling with crates, chests, and cases of various supplies.

Bridge Guardhouse

The drawbridge that protects the main entrance to the Ravenroost is guarded by thick walls with arrow slits and murder holes. The ante-chamber before you enter the keep proper provides very little cover, and a large set of double doors made from steel-reinforced oak stands as a second layer of defense.

  • Both the drawbridge and the portcullis are down
    • A console with a large wheel on the north-western wall can be used to control it, using an action
  • Possibly get reinforcements if they open the bridge from the inside
  • Encounter
  • Loot:
    • 148gp

Hallway

The central hallway is lined with sconces and suits of armor, lined with a dirty carpet. Heavy oak doors leads to several other rooms in the castle from here.

Kitchen

The busy kitchen is kept noticably warmer than the rest of the keep by a large hearth. A half-dozen servants are working here. Racks of pots and pans hang on the walls, and several dishes seems to be underway. As you enter the room, a servant emerges from a spiral staircase carrying a box of vegetables.

The kitchen staff are commoners, and will ask the party if there is anything they desire. They are villagers from Palecliff who come here to work, and are not allowed to roam the castle.

  • "The meal will be served in the banquet hall shortly. Head across the bridge and you should find Master Modion."
Gaston Evenwick

(human, NG, 47): The head chef of the castle. He speaks with an outrageous french accent. Mostly unaware of what goes on in the keep, and is just happy to cook his meals.

Armory

  • DC 18 lock on the door.
  • Enough weapons here to equip a small army, mostly of dwarven make
  • Barrels of crossbow bolts stamped with two crossed hammers below a crown.
    • History 10: The two crossed hammers are the coat of arms of Kundamar.
    • History 15: With the crown, the coat of arms belongs to the Kingdom of Kundamar
    • History 20: The kingdom of Kundamar ruled Estia before the Empire conquered it in 841 AUC, almost 600 years ago.

Library

This room is furnished with bookcases of dark wood, filled with many leather-clad tomes. A large fireplace is placed in the south-western corner. In front of the fireplace, on top of a shaggy bear carpet, stands two upholstered armchairs, complete with puffy ottomans. Several paintings of stern-looking individuals hang on the walls, their eyes seemingly following you around the room.

  • 16 (3d10) valuable books
  • Investigation 10: A scroll with a schematic of a ritual circle is left on one of the reading tables. A scrawled note is written next to a particular intersection of lines: "Exact angle important!"
  • Investigation 15: Master's Treatise of Survival
  • Each portrait bears a plaque with a name and the years they lived:
    • Baron Stephen Stormwood (1267-1339 AUC)
    • Baroness Elizabeth Stormwood (1305-1374 AUC)
    • Baron Barnabus Stormwood (1331-1390 AUC)
    • Baron Lothar Stormwood (1374-1410 AUC)
    • History 15: The Stormwood family were the last to hold the Barony of Palecliff.
    • If Lothar Stormwood's name is spoken out loud, there is a rush of cold air and a howl can be heard on the wind, seemingly originating from below.

Banquet Hall

The large banquet hall has large stained glass windows overlooking the ocean, partly covered with crimson draperies. A table large enough to seat two dozen guests comfortably sits in the middle of the room. The room is lit by large chandeliers, suspended from the ceilings with ropes.

  • Modion and Junicia entertaining a Harbinger over a fancy meal
  • Each of the eight stained-glass windows holds a line of text from the Harbinger's poem
    • Major explosions might take out a window
    • The first two stanzas are given here
    • Each window illustrates that line
  • Loot:
    • Junicia carries a +1 Longsword inscribed with a Teccan phrase: Sanguinis Vincit Omnia, 'Blood Conquers All'. The pommel is shaped like a skeletal hand that is holding a jagged ruby.
    • Modion carries a gold-and-ruby signet ring worth 388gp
Modion and Junicia Junus Aurention

(vampire, NE, 304): Teccan noble twins of the Aurentii who became vampires after the Empire fell. They believe their status as possibly the last living Teccan nobles make them superior to everyone, and they act like it.

  • "Come brother, let us greet our guests, properly."
  • "We will drink your blood for dessert!"
  • "How cute. They believe themselves superior to us, the last heirs of Tec."
  • "Teccam... Aeternae..."

Altar of Remembrance

The room is completely dark, with no windows. A large altar has been erected on the eastern wall. In the middle hangs an oil painting of a young family, a dark-haired man and woman. The woman is holding a toddler. Beneath, on a small plate, lies a baby's rattle, a dagger, and a torn and bloody shirt. The altar also incorporates five large glass mirrors, each with a swirling image inside. Each mirror sits behind a stubby candle, all unlit at the moment. A single floor pillow in front of the altar bears witness to someone having spent many hours here.

  • Shrine dedicated Lucas and the baby
  • Six mirrors, three on each side of the central altar, each with a swirling misty image inside
    • First, Selena wakes up bleeding on the floor
    • Second, Selena and Lucas kiss
    • Third, Lucas shows up bleeding at Selena's door
      • He has a crossbow bolt in his side
    • Fourth, Selena meets a bald wizard in Harbinger robes
      • Insight 15: The wizard bears a striking resemblance to Elias Darkshard
    • Fifth, Selena undergoes the Blood Rites
      • Religion 15: The grueling rites to become a vampire are not survived by everyone
    • Sixth, Selena walks through the doors of a large stone building
      • History 15: It looks like the School of Oratory and Rhetoric in Greystone
  • Each mirror has a candle in front of it
    • Objective is to put them in order, by lighting the candles in order (6, 2, 3, 5, 1, 4)
    • Single chance to get it right, afterwards it locks up for 24 hours
    • If the correct sequence is entered, the central painting swings outwards, revealing a very narrow shaft with a ladder that goes down.
Treasury

Blackley's Quarters

  • Door is locked, DC 20
  • Lavishly appointed
  • Coffin instead of a bed, empty
  • Large sheaf of notes on essences
    • The notes bear the sigil of the Archivists, and are signed by Horatio Lockweave
      • Encrypted with a crossword? If there is time
      • Arcana 15: Horatio Lockweave is a teacher at the Greystone Archive
      • Arcana 20: Disturbing the equilibrium of essence during certain rituals can have terrible consequences
    • 2 (1d4) Scrolls of Soul Trap and a soul gem containing a rare lawful essence

Top floor

The top floors houses the private apartments, aviary, and a tower-top courtyard.

Coffin Room
Aviary
Courtyard
Private Apartments
War Room
Guestrooms
Aurentii Apartment

Aviary

Bat droppings cover the floor of the large room, and several nests have been made from straw, broken crates, driftwood, and other refuse. A hulking figure shambles between the nests, holding a broom that is almost worn down to the shaft. The center nest is occupied by a large, greyish creature with a much larger wingspan than the others.

  • The aviary is in darkness.
  • Stonewing: Giant Four-armed Gargoyle
  • 3 (1d4+1) Bat Gargoyle
    • +6 to attack
    • Throw Rock: +6 to hit, 7 (1d8+3) bludgeoning
  • Greater Zombie : Dead groundskeeper, carries a key which opens all external doors in the castle
  • Loot: Gargoyle teeth, rare earth essence

Until this encounter is defeated, crossing a bridge requires a DC 15 group stealth check, or 2 (1d4) Gargoyles attack.

Courtyard

On top of the tower, crenellated battlements surround a courtyard. This almost feels like a small city block on top of the tower, with individual houses and green spaces.

Greenhouse

The greenhouse has been completely overgrown by wicker plants, which have shattered several panes of glass.

  • Alchemical greenhouse with wicker plant
  • Nature 15: can spot several rare looking plants, including a feyberry bush
  • If the door is forced open (Strength 12):
  • Loot:
Tower

Mortars, alembics, calcinators, retorts, and other glassware is neatly sitting on shelves, and a chest of drawers with at least two dozen different compartment holds many different ingredients.

  • The tower is Blackley's main wizardly laboratory
  • The center of the room holds a Glyph of Warding (DC 17 to spot)
  • Loot:
Guestrooms
  • Simpler sleeping accomodations, cots and bunkbeds for atleast 15-20 people.
  • 2x Harbinger Zealot and Harbinger Doomsayer sleeping here
    • If combat starts outside, they join the fray in 3 (1d4+1) rounds.
  • Loot:
    • 189gp
    • 9 (2d8) art objects
Aurentii Apartment

This is Modion and Junicia's quarters.

  • Loot:
    • Bag of Holding
      • 489gp inside
      • Various mementos from Tec, including a small painted family portrait, with a conderably younger Modion and Junicia along with their parents
      • 11 (2d10) art
    • Old books on Teccan history, worth 184gp

Private Apartments

The lavishly appointed apartments consist of several sitting rooms and a bedroom. Tall windows provide an excellent view of the stormy ocean, and tapestries line the walls. An unused four-post bed shares the room with a large mahogany desk.

  • The bedroom shows little signs of being used.
  • 22 (4d10) art objects
  • A letter from Blackley by a small sitting area:

Lady Selena,

You asked me to look into the halfling's ring that you recently recovered, and I believe my research has turned up something useful. I believe it is a powerful artifact, weakened by disuse. To be expected, as it was made for mere mortals, for whom the passage of time is the ultimate bane.

If the ring was exposed it to a powerful psionic essence, that might reawaken its original potency. While the location of such an essence eludes me, I will keep researching this subject for you.

Yours, Rufus Blackley

War Room

A large mahogany table dominates the room. Maps, letters, and books lie strewn across it, and several benches line the walls. Many plans have been made in this room.

  • Map of Estia, marked in several locations: Greystone, Heimdall's Anvil, Covenant, Goldshore...
    • Insight/history to determine that these were the locations of the original attacks
  • Letter from Silas instructing Selena to launch a second wave of attacks

Lady Selena, Our enemies' are trembling after the first wave of attacks. We must renew our efforts and strike again before they turn back to complacency. If we can turn them against each other, and our man on the Council will do the rest. I leave it in your capable hands to select a suitable target and strike at a time of your choosing.

Remember, the Whispered One counts on you to sew chaos and discord, which will set events in motion for our ultimate plan. My son reported that he is close to finding the Anchor, and with it we should be able to unleash Her upon this world.

In Her Name, Silas Darkshard

  • Scroll of possible targets:
    • School of Rhetoric and Oratory in Greystone
    • Silvar Halasir
      • History 15: He is the Iacarisi ambassador in Covenant
    • The Anvilspan in Heimdall's Anvil

Coffin Room

The large dais at the northern end of this room is richly appointed with deep red velvet curtains. A massive sarcophagus sits on the dais. The rest of the room holds wardrobes, bookcases, and a small sitting area. The room is dimly lit by flickering wax candles.

  • Encounter:
  • When Selena dies: a rooster crows in the distance and it starts snowing
  • Loot:
    • Uncommon fire essence from the flameskull
    • If Selena dies while in sunlight: Vampire Dust, Very rare negative essence
    • Selena's Crimson Garb
  • Selena talks a lot during the fight:
    • "You! You dare disturb me here? I will feast on your blood!"
    • "You have the ring? How did you...? Nevermind, I will pry it from your dead finger, halfling!"
    • "Azrael, I need aid! I commend myself to your spirit!"
    • "Its working! I can feel her power coursing through me!"
    • "Noooo! What have you done?!"
    • "I was promised... eternal... power..."
    • "Lucas..."
Ascension Ritual

When Selena is reduced to half her hit points, she calls upon Azrael's aid. A ritual circle appears below Selena and she becomes surrounded by a spherical forcefield that lifts her in the air. A skill challenge is required to break the ritual (3 successes/3 failures, DC 17). Initiative continues, and characters can choose to continue with normal actions or use actions to disrupt the ritual. On Selena's turn, the party automatically gains a failure.

  • Success 1: Advantage on saving throws against the explosion

  • Success 2: Selena is stunned for 1 turn

  • Success 3: Selena becomes vulnerable to radiant damage

  • Failure 1: 2d6 explosion, mythic actions, 20thp

  • Failure 2: 4d6 explosion + prone, shadowy wings (60ft fly speed), 40thp

  • Failure 3: 6d6 explosion + stunned, 60thp

When the ritual ends, the effects above apply depending on both how many successes and failures are accrued. The explosion has a DC is 17 and deals necrotic damage. It also blows the roof off the room, and rain starts to pour in. If the gargoyles from the Aviary are still alive, 2 (1d4) of them join the fight, and one additional gargoyle joins at the top of each round.

Possible skill checks (not an exhaustive list):

  • Arcana, Religion: Disrupt the magic itself
  • Social skills: Distract Selena's concentration
  • Sleight of Hand, Athletics: Destroy the ritual circle
  • Sacrificing an essence as part of a check: Advantage for uncommon, auto-pass for rare